500,000 Euros

Pathological gamblers talk through their addictions in casinos and racetracks, immersing us in their irrational world.

In Lombardi, Italy, pathological gamblers talk through their addictions in casinos and racetracks, immersing us in their irrational world.

"It started as an occasional thing. After buying a coffee, I had enough to buy a two euro 'scratch and win' card. It's just so easy that you spend everything hoping to hit the 'big bang'. It's as easy as stepping inside a bar, any bar. There are slot machines. Just look at the slots and you'll understand ...."

"I don't even realise it, but I have been playing on the machines since the afternoon. That's seven hours in front of the machines and I haven't even noticed. You lose perception of time, of being human."

The voices you hear in 500,000 Euros belong to pathological gamblers interviewed during the study "Gamesick", carried out by the Addiction Department with the collaboration of Codici, a Lombardi social research agency.